Pua on the wall

[TamanduaGirl]

My camera's broken and gone and still waiting on my new one but had to take these pics. We're in the middle of a slow renovation of my room and this is where the new and old wall meet. And I got video too.

Video with some of the pics in it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQEjaJvWWRQ

and since some can't see videos the pictures

http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/th_Picture6724.jpg
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/th_Picture6727.jpg
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/th_Picture6728.jpg
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/th_Picture6729.jpg
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/th_Picture6730.jpg

[TamanduaGirl]

http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/th_Picture6734.jpg
I can't feel the shelf yet
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/Picture6737.jpg
Where the heck did it go?
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/Picture6738.jpg
After Helping her
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/th_Picture6739.jpg
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/th_Picture6740.jpg

and just because it was on there too, Hyzzie
http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/th_Picture6722.jpg

[TamanduaGirl]

oh and if for some reason you want to see those larger they are on the blog in larger thumbs and click for bigger
http://taqmanduagirl.blogspot.com/2006/12/pua-on-wall.html

[Kalei]

Wow I don't think I"ve ever seen an animal like Pua before. What is Pua called? He looks like he's from another country or something! But Pua is sure cute! You should post more pictures of him soon! He lookes adorable!:D

[flamepony12]

I didn't know people could keep anteaters/tamanduas as pets... where do you live? :confused:

[TamanduaGirl]

Pua's a tamandua, a medium sized anteater. The Giants are what most people think of as anteaters. Of course then there's some people like my mom. When I first told her I was getting a anteater she asked, "What about the armor?" :-D They naturaly range all over south america. I beleive at one time Tamandua mexicana used to come as far noth as Los Angeles. Of course if you go way back fossilized Tamanduas have been found in the UK, eh, but I'm getting kinda off track.

I did post a little more about her in my intro. I rarely read intros either though so I understand missing it but if you want to see theres some there. And by the way Pua's a she
I'm sure I'll post lots of pics here once I get my new camera.
I'm not possitive which ones I put there but here I'll post a couple from when I still had a decent camera
her tail curles up like that when she get's really excited and she loves going for walks
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/Picture095.jpg
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/Picture296.jpg
And this was recent, when I borrowed a camera
http://static.flickr.com/144/319011936_cd29f9109a.jpg?v=0

[buttercup132]

I didn't know people could keep anteaters/tamanduas as pets... where do you live? :confused:Ya I agree that is a bit odd....

[TamanduaGirl]

I live in Oregon. Laws about what you can have vary by state, county and city laws. So you really need to make sure you check when getting something different, as an example even gerbils are illegal in CA.

They are really hard to get though and require a special diet, well everything does but it's a major thing with anteaters. They are considered delicate and mine's really picky. But she's so amazingly sweet :-)

I'll be getting her a mate in the future in hopes of a baby anteater but I need to move first so there's more room so a year absolute minimum :-(

[TamanduaGirl]

Ya I agree that is a bit odd....

I don't mind being odd but if you are thinking something hinky it's not. I made sure everything was in order and she is fully legal.

I did years of research before getting her and continue too and have worked with other exotics before.

[Zippy]

Pua is beautiful.Thanks for sharing pics :D

[Argranade]

Omg I just want to give her a big warm hug what a sweety, I seen those animals on my nature chanel lol, there realy amazing and beautiful creatures .. as are all animals of the world.

That's a realy neat friend you got there because it's not too often I see a person walking one down the street around here :p, please when you get a new camera you have to take more photos of this adorable pet! :D

Just woundering what is there life span & how much was such a creature or did you adopt her?

Cute pics!

[TamanduaGirl]

And the best part is Pua likes giving hugs too. She'll drap herself over me and wrap her arms around me or if I'm holding her to my chest and scritch her back she'll wiggle her claws a bit and scratch my back too. She likes hugging my hands a lot too and curles up around one to nap since it's easier for little self to hug just a hand or arm.

The lifespan is kind of unknown really. They aren't studied much at all in the wild so only lifespans are based on zoo tamanduas. For a long time it was 9.5yrs then recently one reached 11 so they say 9-11 years but but mexiacan a slightly different species of Tamandua reached 16. She's tamandua tetradactyla. Care has improoved a lot for them in recent years with studies into their diet so Tamandua T could well make it that old too. So idealy they probaly could live as long as a small dog. My last dog made it to 16.

They run about 1,700-3,500 I got Pua for a bit less but she was real sick and much older than they claimed so in some ways she could of been a rescue not sure she would have made it if she went to someone else. But when I am able to get her a mate I know some great people to deal with next time. I'm certainly not disapointed in her though, she couldn't have been sweeter than if I had raised her from a youngster. There are so few of them around they don't go to any rescue groups but are just resold but even that's not common. They are very rare even for exotics. They only have one baby at a time and nurse it for 6 months to a year and a five month gestation and mom prefering to wait a bit between babies you get one every couple years if you're lucky.

I'm fairly certain on her being about 3 now based on certain indicators so based on official statistics I could have her maybe another 6-8yrs but possibly longer since I've tried to give her the best food mix possible and she has it a lot nicer being a house pet rather than a zoo tam. I'll lover her for however long I have her though.

One more pic
Her Hugging my arm
http://i128.photobucket.com/albums/p169/TamanduaGirl/NewUploads/Picture194.jpg

[Argranade]

OoOOoo that's just too cute my eye's are buring with the over-load of cuteness! :D

I wanna give her a hug :( lol Ooo well I geuss I always have Shiney to hug if she would stop biting my lips, fingers & ears lol. :rolleyes:

[My Peanuts]

Pua is awesome! Very cute. I love the pics.

As long as the animals are well cared for and are happy I have no problem with someone owning them :)

[TamanduaGirl]

Thanks.

Pua just sticks her tongue in my ears.

[buttercup132]

By CA do you mean Canada? Cause Gerbils aren't illegal here lol.

That is really cool that she is your pet. Someone else on PT has a monkey. After doing more research I would like to own a Kinka jou (http://images.google.ca/images?svnum=10&hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=kinkajou&spell=1)they are so interested and I have seen people own them before.

[Suki Wingy]

wow, I wouldn't even know how to start ging about finding a tamandua in the US! As for exotics, I hope to one day have a skunk and a giant african pouched rat (thingy, don't know whole name) I don't know If I could dedicate that much time though. I saw on the show Pet Story on Animal Planet someone had a coati that they had to rehome because it was too much for them to handle.
Pua's gorgeous, btw!

[Suki Wingy]

By CA do you mean Canada? Cause Gerbils aren't illegal here lol.
CA is the standard postal two letter abreviation for California ;)

[buttercup132]

I was thinking that cause they have them for sale in pet stores.

Where did you get her from? Dose she go in a cage at night?
Do you go out with her like you would a dog, of wich I mean like take her for walks on the street and to the park?

Sorry for all the questions I'm interested.

[Suki Wingy]

Wait, I thought tamanduas were originally from the south Pacific?

[Muddy4paws]

:eek: :eek: :eek: !!!


OMG Shes so cute! I wouldn't know where to start with owning her! lol I dont think I've ever seen one before but the photo of her giving a hug! omg I want one! lol You need to post loads more photos!

[Argranade]

By CA do you mean Canada? Cause Gerbils aren't illegal here lol.

That is really cool that she is your pet. Someone else on PT has a monkey. After doing more research I would like to own a Kinka jou (http://images.google.ca/images?svnum=10&hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=kinkajou&spell=1)they are so interested and I have seen people own them before.

Ya those animals are realy neat, I stroked one before from this lady who owned him .. of course he was sleepy becasuse it was day time lol.

The only exotic pet I owned was a sugar glider, in a few years I plan on hopefuly buying a pied crow .. they can be taught to speak and can live up to 50 years old & with that bird a tucan would be nice.

[TamanduaGirl]

Okay I'm putting the responses all into one big one. Hope that's not to confusing for some. I tried to sort of highlite what each paragraph refrences so make it easier to get to the topic of intrest. It's partly due to the site was being weird for me.

I'm a big photo person so there will be lots of those. Thanks for all the compliments on her. I don't mind the questions. I actualy just got my USDA so we can go around to schools and things to do educational presentations will likely start that in the new year. And my old job with exotics was along similar lines. Always lots of questions about the animals.

Yeah I meant CA for California. At least I did remember earlier to spell out Los Angeles and not put LA because I know that can get really confusing :) CA is one of the worst states for owning anything exotic especialy exotic mammals.

Personaly I don't think I'd ever want a kinkajou. They aren't that effectionate, tend to be bitey, and really messy being fruit eaters and the ones I heard about tend to like to aim their poop to land outside the cage and the poop is pretty nasty from them being fruit eaters. But the people that I know that have them don't tend to talk about them much but that bit abouve stuck i my mind. http://www.juliesjungle.com/kinkajou.php It makes them sound nicer than I decribed them. It does touch on the fact that they tend to splatter their poop everyhwere though.


Coatimundis are notoriously difficult pets and should only be attempted by someone with other exotic experience already and studied into them. They go through a bitey phase and have rasor sharp teeth. They're actualy kind of scary. After that they aren't so bad just mischivouse like their racoon cousins. I know several people that have them and love them but they don't sound like they are for me either.

Skunks are cool I would consider one of them someday. The main thing is not to over feed them so they don't get fat.

Pouched rats, well, that wont happen due to the whole monkey pox scare some time back. The CDC never lifted their "temporary" ban on sale, exchange, travel of prairie dogs and pouched rats. If you already had one you could keep it and sometimes can get a special permit to rehome but otherwise they can't even go anywhere but home and to the vet. So eventualy if the ban is never lifted they will die out as pets. It was all just a matter of improper quarentine and the prairie dogs especialy were inocent bistandars since they don't normaly carry it. But governemt isn't always fare.

Oh I'd like a pied crow too someday. They are expensive too. I did have a crow once that had birth defects and no hope of being released for awhile they are neat.

I think the south pacific just reffers the certain pacific islands? Costa rica has tamanduas and is part of the south pacific but is also part of south america. Part of south america borders the southern pacific ocean too. The pangolin is from Asia and africa but they aren't even in the same order as Tamanduas though they look like an armored tamandua and have the same diet. They are higlky endangered. http://www.ufba.br/~mamifero/pangolin.gif

I thought I mentioned where I got her from but I got her from a guy in Florida but as I said I know better people now. I don't want to giving names or anything on a public board since you could get the odd person come across the post and rush off and get on a list to get one without learnig about them first, ect. I'm hoping a lady that had a baby will have one again in a year or two and maybe I'll get it this time. I tried before but she claimed she wasn't getting my messages. Day dreaming but the timing could work out perfect if she does for some of my hopes.

Where she sleeps
She has a cage that she sometimes gets a time out in when awake or for if I need to be away and on my days off she sleeps all day so leave her in there dozing in her hammock. When I work she comes to work with me and sleeps in my lap most of the time since I have my own store. Then she wakes up in the evenings to eat and play. She sleeps with me in bed at night though wakes up on and off to eat and during her active phase sometimes to just wander my room a bit. They are not stricly nocturnal or diurnal or anything like other animals. In the wild they are just active whenever it suits them but are more nocturnal around human populations. In captivity it seems females do tend to be more nocturnal though Pua was awake during the day a lot when I first got her and had active mornings a couple times this week. Males tend to be more active in general.

when the weather is nice we do go to the park once a week and she runs right along just needs reminding to stay on the trail sometimes. She's not inclined to stay or wait when told though so we go at her pace or pic her up for a bit if, say, someone aproaches us. Our park usualy isn't very active so we don't tend to get crowds but people notice sometimes and sometimes come. I have walked her by the shop some too. She sometimes likes exploring the little hill across the street or I just take her to the gardeny area on the corner and have her pee then let her trot back to the shop. She knows here way there. She is on a harness and leash of course since that last almost sounded like she might not be. She LOVEs going to the park and running on the woodland trails. Really loves exploring.

[Suki Wingy]

thanks for all your info :) Unfortunatly I'd have to change the legistature of move a state over to legally own a skunk. I've wanted one for some time now. As for the rats, I did read something about a bad but I didn't know it was never lifted.
What do you know/think about hybrid cats? ie Half serval, half domestic cat?

[TamanduaGirl]

they can be great but you need to know your F's first.
F1 is 50/50
f2 is 25/75
then F3 F4

first you take a serval(or other exotic cat) and breed to domestic F1 then breed the offspring to a domestic F2 untill F4 or F5 and they can brred back to themselves. Up untill a certain point the males are sterile so they can breed back to themselves before then(not sure it that part is the same for all exotic cat hybrids). Kind of like mules but it's just the males(or maybe just usualy the males not positive).

Anyway you want an F4 or later. They still look cool have a lot of the plusses of servals but are considered domestic at that point and wont be spraying everything or shouldn't while ALL full blood exotics will. You can always work your way up later if you decide to go into the real full blood exotic cats.

Savannahs are part serval and bengals are part asian Leopard Cat. Bengals come in a little more variety.

found a good over view page and has some listed I didn't know about.
http://www.savannahcatbreed.com/breeds.shtml

[areias]

By CA do you mean Canada? Cause Gerbils aren't illegal here lol.

That is really cool that she is your pet. Someone else on PT has a monkey. After doing more research I would like to own a Kinka jou (http://images.google.ca/images?svnum=10&hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=kinkajou&spell=1)they are so interested and I have seen people own them before.

The horse rescue next to where my horse is kept has a kinkajou. I tend to agree...they can be very hard to tame, and very flighty. The originally wild ones tend to bite. I guess one might be okay if raised by hand.


I want a flying squirrel, that's about as exotic as I get. And maybe a zorse but... :p

[lvpets2002]

:eek: Oh WoW that is an Ant Eater.. Do you have license to have this animal?

[Suki Wingy]

thanks. I knew about a few breeds but I keep blanking. I think caracals are crossed frequently too. I don't think I'd want a bengal unless I was going for a domestic cat anyway.

[wolflady]

Oh my goodness! What a cute pet Pua is! This has been an interesting thread to read through, and she is definitely not something you see everyday! :eek: LOL

What do you feed her?

**hugs**

[TamanduaGirl]

The diet is complicated though she does have a simple one for which gets mixed with the other. I'll just copy and paste from my carehseet. The diet tends to keep evolving as I learn more and as we see how she does with it.

simple easy diet
2 cups powdered dry cat food
1/2 cup flax seed meal
1/2 cup red beans powdered
1/4 cup dehydrated frozen spinach

Grind all in coffee grinder remove anything that doesn't powder small.
Mix with water when ready to serve.

The simple diet is convenient to have and should be nutritionally complete based on the analysis of all ingredients compared to wild diet and K content of leafeater. But mine not only likes the fresh frozen diet better it gives her much nicer stools and she seems all around healthier when on it or a mix of the two.

Gourmet diet
1 pounds bananas (feed without skin)
1 pound tomatoes
1 pound fruit, oranges, kiwi, berries any acidic fruit is preferred
2 boiled eggs
2 pounds feeder insects such as meal worms, crickets and silk worms, ect. (got 5,000 meal worms and 250 wax worms for about $20 and is about 2 pounds)
1 pound chicken or turkey breast boiled
1 pound boiled liver
1 pound fresh cooked shrimp (pulverized equivalent of 4oz dried shrimp)
1/4 cup bone meal powder
1 cup flax seed meal
1 cup dried red beans ground to powder
2 pkgs frozen spinach(10oz or about 4 & 1/2 cups)
7-15 teaspoons blue green algae, cell tech animal algae (based on size of
animal)

Blend all in food precessor with fish/shrimp/chicken water then run through a berry strainer (metal cone with holes and pestle to push liquid through). Reblend the remainder then restrain at least twice should only be a couple cups of waist. The waist should be small enough it could be eaten but mine was always leaving the small bits at the bottom so strain it now so all will be lapped up and it's safer if using chicken or liver in case of sinew.

[TamanduaGirl]

It depends on the state if you need a liscense or permit. They don't consider them a threat to the envornment or people in mine so I don't she just needed a permit to get into the state. I have my USDA now thjough so I can start doing educational shows with her at schools and things like that.

[wolflady]

Wow! :eek: That is certainly some diet! Thanks for sharing all of this information about your unique girl! I'm sure kids will really like her when you start doing the educational programs :)

**hugs**

[TamanduaGirl]

:) thanks.

I beleive in feeding a diet that is as little processed as possible. I feel feeding nothing but kibble is like feeding nothing but cerial to a person. But mimicking termites and ants isn't easy. I compaired a study done on the nutritional stomach contents of wild tamanduas and compaired it to what I was mixing up and with spinach to match the amount of K most tams get on kibble.

[lvpets2002]

:eek: WoW you just wore me out with that diet.. And I thought taken care of 9 cats & 2 dogs was busy :) .. You do know & love your baby.. Just adorable.. ;)

[TamanduaGirl]

Ha I was teased about making up a witches brew when I made it before. It is a lot of work. Especialy the straining process, makes my arms tired, but I could use the work out :)

[ramanth]

What do your other animals think of Pua or do they have to be kept seperate?

I just love reading your posts about her. Very informative.

[TamanduaGirl]

They all do okay with each other. Pua was terrified of the cat the first time but has now gotton used to her. She'll sniff noses with the cat. Kat doesn't seem to care much either way. She has warmed up a bit and made a few febal play swipes in Pua's dirrection but Pua ignored them.

Jupiter was scared at first of Pua at first and then got to chasing her out of his cage if she wandered in but will lick her tail sometimes when it hangs down within reach. He also aproach her when they were both running free.

The dogs both flee from her tail. You'd think she was part scorpion. Hyzzie is a big bully and will push Pua around sometimes if not watched. She's jelouse of her. Quasi mostly avoids her but will grumble if she disturbs his sleep.

Hyzzie thinks Jupiter is her puppy and loves him to peices and tries to teach him to play like a dog. No one really knows what to make of Pua. I think Hyzzie thinks of her more like a cat. She followed her around at first when she climbed things and whined worried that woeird dog would hurt herself. So a big part of her problem is jelousy. Though the dogs still get plenty of attention and several walks a day.

[ramanth]

Having just adopted a new dog, I totally understand the jealousy aspect. Kia was a single dog for 5 years and along comes this new pup. I get that look quite often.

She whines when I hold the new snake too. Kia's a momma's girl.

I bet Pua turns heads when you go for walks. :D Do you take her to pet stores when you shop?

[TamanduaGirl]

Do you take her to pet stores when you shop?

That's a trick question, lol. I have my own pet store. Just supplies and in a small town. Pua comes with me every day so I can keep an eye on her. She has a nice big pen here but since she decided she prefers being mostly nocturnal sleeps in my lap most of the time. Sometimes she runs off and sleeps in the sink or on a shelf or in a box ect. Right now the sink is her favorite place. She's been waking up in the mornings recently so gets fed then when we get to work she runs off to sleep in the sink.

I took her when they had a pet photo day for a fund raiser. She didn't want to sit still. she wanted to explore. But it was outside too. I may have to try her in pet's mart sometime when I'm feeling social. I live in the mountains though so the real city is 45 miles away. Maybe when i take her for her next check up we can stop by.

[wolflady]

It's so great to own your own business and bring your Pua to work with you. How neat! You may have already mentioned this somewhere else, but when/how did you first start learning about tamanduas?

**hugs**

[TamanduaGirl]

Well I wanted a fewnnec fox and to work with exotics but lived in CA. I moved eventualy to OR. When I was looking OR had a list of what animals you can have, can't have or need a permit for. Tamanduas were on the okay list.

Way back had seen the wild on the set with a tamandua http://babyitscoldoutside.net/video.html and remembered how cute it was in a parka. so I looked into them as a possibility for working with some day and the more I learned the more I loved them so Tamanduas became my top love and got a tamandua first.

[Twisterdog]

I just stumbled across this thread.

WOW, that is a cute little critter! I had no idea they were so cute!

Are they bred domestically, or wild caught?

[TamanduaGirl]

Unfortunatly most are still wild caught but with more research into their diet ect there have been more captive births and that is slowly changing. I tried to buy a captive born and bred baby from a lady who had a pair but she claimed she wasn't getting my messages and sold him to someone else.

I plan to get her a mate in the future. I also know someone kind of local with a male but he needs to grow up first. Then we will do our small part to help ensure their future in captivity and we will be educating about them in the wild as well.

She basicaly came right to me from the wild with a stop or two along the way. She was in ruff shape and so likely wouldn't have survived much longer in the wild. For a "wild" animal she is very loving. She has no want to escape either. When I take her in the yard when the weather's nice she knows her way right back to my door and when I take her out to pee at the shop when it's warm enough she also heads right back for the shop door when done.

I know how some feel about it and thought it over myself and decided I was fine with it long as I did something to help out. I can't feel bad about it myself. Aside from the fact I feel her life was saved by coming here they aren't excatly a prized species down there. One study showed they are tied with capuchin monkeys as most comonly killed as nusance/pest animals. They are known to wander into homes and trash/dumpsters also killed by hunters on sites for the mistaken notion they are dog killers. They can but only in self defense. Sometimes killed for food or tourists and as with most wildlife is most common to see them dead on the road than in the wild.

They are not endagered though or officialy threatened. The trade is heavely regulated and the amount they allow out gets smaller each year. So trade may be stopped in the near future.

Even on my Xenartha keepers forum(anteaters, sloths, and armadillos) there are differing views so I know how some people feel. But all species in captivity started somewhere. Even hamsters haven't really been raised in captivity all that long, a few decades.

But however anyone looks at it look on the bright side in a few years if all goes well you'll get to see baby anteater pictures :)

Sorry if that got to long winded but I just figured I would go ahead and explain how I saw it all before anyone commented. Most exotics are bred in captivity. Certainly no one prefers to get a wild animal over a captive bred baby but it all starts somewhere. The way I see it if I'm succesful in breeding it will help give others an option to wild caught.

[GSDOG]

Pua is beautiful..Love the pics...I see nothing wrong with what you are doing. If educating some people on animals like her you will make people want to protect them, then all the better. Lucky for you Oregon allows so many different kinds of animals to be kept.

[trayi52]

Pua sure is a cute little thing. I really enjoyed the pictures and the video. Thanks for the info on her. She sounds like a wonderful pet to have.

Willie :)

[TamanduaGirl]

Thanks.

That's why i moved to Oregon :)

Of course I think she's perfect but like with any animal exotics especialy there are negatives. Noctural isn't a problem for me but she's very messy with her food. Not just from spills but it's their natural instinct to claw at their food. She needs her tail oiled to keep it from getting to dry. And being a girl she has monthy female issues, spotting and restlessness. Their pee does smell skunky but she doesn't have a body odar that I notice.

She isn't really destructive and is gentle when playing but know of some others that aren't.

The only negs I count personaly are messy eating = lots of extra laundry and sometimes when restless she keeps me up.

To me she's the perfect pet and makes up for anything else in hugs and kisses and playfulness.